How do you get around a wall
when you can’t find the door?
By Sigrid Pohl Perry, PhD
2017 International Germanic Genealogy Conference
Minneapolis, Minnesota
July 30, 2017
Do you have. . .An old album filled with unlabeled photographs?
Grandparents with no dates, places or families attached to them?
Relatives who just materialized in the New World or came from villages you can’t find?
Conflicting information about dates and places for ancestors?
DNA cousins who don’t connect anywhere in your “document trail”?
What do you do next?
Track the Tribe: Find your Clan & Ancestors
Examine & compare early census records & ship manifests to find clues to original homelands.
Look for related families or neighbors from the same village or region. Did they have the same destination? People traveled & settled together.
Do later census records show recent family immigrants? Where did they come from?
19th century Germans lived in many areas of Eastern Europe: Prussia, Pomerania, Russian Poland, Hungary, Galicia, Bukowina, Russia, Volhynia (Ukraine), Bessarabia, & Baltic countries.
Fieldman Families, Livingston County, IL ca1900 – 2015Census & gravesite records show birth in Germany
Death index shows birthdate & Americanized parents’ names
Fieldman = FeldmannGermany = Prussia
Birth & Baptism in Kolmar, Posen, Prussia parish in 1857
Marriage database = Lutheran, Chodziez #26 in 1851
Search for Records in Online Databases
Martin Feldmann, son of Christian Feldmann, 25 & widow Wilhelmine Radke born Wegner, 32
Married 29 April 1851, #26
Schultze is Pastor
Domres Dumries Domroes DomroseDombrys Domras Domreis Dąbrys
Families left Lublin, Poland 1900-1940: Where did they go?
U.S. census records show few Domres families in 1900-1920.
1940 Nazi resettlement records (Einwandererzentralstelle or EWZ) reveal Polish, Ukrainian, and Latvian origins.
The Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (www.sggee.org) includes German Domres families with Russian Poland origins who settled in Germany; Oconto County, Wisconsin; Saginaw, Michigan; Cavalier, North Dakota; and Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Are they all related?
Glogowiec Area Names in Lublin 1834-1940
Belke
Bilof/Buelow
Domres
Falkenberg
Fitz
Freund
Fruk
Grossmann
Hirsekorn
Klatt
Klukas
Krentz
Krueger
Lenz
Milbra(n)dt
Missal
Nickel
Reske/Riske
Riewe
Rosentreter
Schindel
Schmidt/ke
Schulz
Taron
Wolski
German Immigrants in the SGGEE Master Pedigree Database
Deaths Poland births Ukraine births
Wisconsin 184 139
Oconto County 37 3
Milwaukee 40 21
Michigan 308 309
Berrien County 52 160
Illinois 210 37
Chicago 120 18
N. & S. Dakota 90 199
Washington 61 103
Oregon 60 76
California 71 104
Alberta 396 510
Edmonton 138 141
British Columbia 172 216
Families in Hines Creek, Alberta who emigrated from the Lublin area 1928-1950
Belke/Matthews
Boelke/Schultz
Brauer/Klatt
Brauer/Sterk
Dei/Schultz
Domres/Hapke
Janke/Fruk
Kaut
Kipke/Bak
Kitzmann/Kotke
Klatt/Steinke
Krahn/Wolski
Lemke
Riemer/Splett
Riewe/Fruk
Schultz/Schuh
Schultz/Reichwald
Will/Neumann
Wolski/Kaut
Wolski/Schultz
Zabel/Hapke
Descendants of this family emigrate from Poland to Volhynia (Ukraine), Germany, Wisconsin, Illinois & Canada; at last count about 10 SGGEE members connect to these ancestors.
Find the Clan’s Trail of Immigration
Ancestral village neighbors or relatives may be on ship manifests & in early census records.
If you can’t find your family on all census records, trace close neighbors. Your ancestor may be hidden in spelling errors & on a nearby page.
Look for emigration surname spellings in the language of origin, not common English, on ship manifests & the earliest census records. Always try surname spelling variations. Don’t rely on Soundex.
After immigration, check common English or American spellings of surnames & given names.
1916 Strathcona, AB censusTownships 49-51
Household:
Julius Kanopt 46
Jessina Kanopt 40
Julina Kanopt 29
Edward Kanopt 25
Millie Kanopt 20
August Kanopt 19
Martha Kanopt 16
John Kanopt 14
Liddie Kanopt 9
Olna Kanopt 7
Lena Kanopt 5
Both German Lutheran families emigrated from Russian Poland in 1904
1916 neighbors:
Rhudolph Arndt 46Johannen Arndt 36John Arndt 14Willie Arndt 11Gustoff Arndt 10Ernest Arndt 7Matilda Arndt 2
Knop ship manifest 25 June 1904Justina Knop (Knob)
Date of Arrival: 25 Jun 1904
Arrival: Montreal, Quebec
Departure: Liverpool, England
Destination: Edmonton
Justina, 38 = Jessina
Julianna, 10 = Julina
Emilie, 7 = Millie
Auguste, 7 = August
Martha, 2 = Martha
Johann, 1 = John
Johanna Arent (Arndt) with children Johann & Wilhelm also going to Edmonton
1929 Manifest for Cabel (Zabel)Rudolf, Olga (Hapke) & Sigismund
Born in Nowina & Debowiec, Poland
Sponsors: C.N.R. Winnipeg
Leaving brother August Milnikel, Nowina
Gillett, Oconto, WI 1905 censusZelmer, Depner, Krueger, Grott,
Zerbst & SchleckLook for Ludwig Schlak ship manifest
Manifest 23 June 1903 in NY, destination Gillett, WI: Emil Klingbeil, Friedrich Kessler & Ludwig Schlak families going to friend & b-i-l Ewald Lenz (Lence)
Using Obituaries
Verify the information about relatives using earlier census records or city directories.
Look for “clan member” & family obituaries in local newspapers or in online sources.
Check with the church or cemetery to find possible living relatives responsible for the gravesite.
Determine how the survivors mentioned are related.
Using Newspapers & City Directories
Search for immigration information on other “clan members” mentioned in obituaries.
Search in digitized area newspapers with surnames & key words.
Look for events related to the family, e.g. births, marriages, deaths.
You will find jobs, clubs, churches, & local memberships for them & capture a snapshot of their lives.
Using ObituariesSheboygan Press, 11 July 1933
Adolph Domres was father to:
Mrs. Arthur Maltzahn, Sheboygan
Funeral at St. Stephan’s Lutheran in Chicago
Pallbearers: Philip Domres, Arthur Krause, Herman Kersten, Clarence Everet, Leo Frederick, Henry Haack
Birth: 8 Oct 1876 in Stephansdorf, Germany; m. Albertina Stackosky 1898
In Gillett 1899-1922, Sheboygan, & then Chicago in 1928
Survivors: wife, Rev. W.F. Domres at Zion Ev. Lutheran, Iowa; Eugenia & Agnes Domresat home, grandchildren; 4 brothers & 4 sisters, most local but Mrs. Emilie Ferginin Germany; out of town relatives etc.
Maltzahn in 1940 census in Sheboygan
Widow Albertina is living with her daughter Theresa in Sheboygan.
Arthur & Theresa have two children: Marion and Lois.
Indexer has spelled Domres as Domers
Maltzahn is Maltsahn but Soundex found it
Obituaries & Census RecordsWilliam Zeibart
b. 1 July 1875 Germany
m. Rosemund Rode
b. 18 Jan 1892
Wittenberg, Germany
m. 5 June 1911
5 daughters & son
William Zeibart
Athensa (Julius ) Yanke
Agina (Richard) Hayden
Erna (Emil) Dietz
Ida (Rudy) Lockstein
Celia (Wilber) Haarman
Brother:
Gottlieb Ziebart, KY
Rode sisters:
Tillie (Jacob) Wangert
Olga (Ernest) Lorenz
Brothers:
August Rode
Emil Rode died
Ziebart in 1920 and 1930 Census RecordsZeibart/Zebert
Wilhelm Ziebart
b. 1875 Poland
Arrival: 1905
Brother Gottlieb
Rose b. 1892 Russian Poland
NEITHER born in Germany
Siblings: Rode
Tillie (Ottilie)
Olga
August
Emil
Name changes: Are they real? Spelling errors can result from unfamiliarity, especially on ship
manifests & census records. These are temporary changes.
Names may be legally changed to conform with pronunciation in the new country or to avoid awkward mispronunciations (examples: Janke to Yanke, Tietz to Dietz, Friedrich to Frederick).
A legal name change may be a “fresh start” & avoid discrimination.
People use nick names: Louis, Fred, Gust, Gussie, Tillie, Minnie, etc.
Compare the names in several records to verify legal changes to document your files.
Domres Errors: 1900 & 1910
1900Domras = Domres
Fred G. (Friedrich Gottfried)
Carolina
Polena = Paulina
Ameal = Emil
Ulga = Olga
Gutfrey = Gottfried
1910Domers = Domres
Russian German
1899 Arrival NOT 1900
Adolph
Albertina
William
Theresa
Tietz to Dietz: 1905 census 1920 census
Ludwig Tietz = Louis Dietz
Ludwig m. Emilie Fergin
( aka Amalia Fregin)
Mother: Henriette (Majewski) Fergin
Gottlieb Martin: 1st cousin to Ludwig
[arr. with Adolf & Albertine Domres
in 1899]
Julius Zelmer is Amalia’s nephew
1910 census shows more Zelmer
kids living with them; their mother,
her sister, died in 1909
Henriette is still living with them in
1920
Brother Mikel Tietz from Poland to Wisconsin& North Dakota to Saskatchewan
Arrived 1896 in Wisconsin
m. Ottilie Zerbst 1907 in Gillett
[she was also born in the Lublin area]
Moved to Kidder, ND by 1920
Moved to Saskatchewan before 1930
Ottilie d. in Spokane, WA in 1942
Mikel d. Mellville, SK in 1953
Adult children:
Idaho, Washington,
Saskatchewan
More to Consider: Multiple Marriages
Neither men nor women remained widowed long in the 19th century, especially if they had children.
2nd & even 3rd marriages were not uncommon.
Find death, marriage & birth records for these families.
In the 20th century divorce is more common.
Tracing the partners through several marriages can be complex.
More to Consider: Tribe Connections
Connect with descendents from the same ancestral village. You may find 3rd or 4th cousins!
Cousins may have photos and documents common to your own family!
Compare information, documents, stories, and photos from other Tribe members to solve mysteries.
Join a genealogy society with interests and ancestral locations similar to your own.
Form a team with some of these Tribe members, divide the research efforts & share in the triumphs!
Surprises!August Hennig m. Emma Scheppe in 1908 &
arrived in Wisconsin 1913. He died in 1929.
In WWI Emma was deported to Russia & later returned to Lublin. She received this photo but had to apply for a death certificate to marry in 1930.
New Photographs for the Album!
Olga Wendland Klukas
d. 1 June 1935 in childbirth
Her mother-in-law was my great-aunt, Marianne Pohl, who married Gottlieb Klukas
Debowiec group found on Poland website:
Photo ca 1938 shows my mother & father:
Ida Dąbrys (Domres), 16 & Herman Pol, 27
& some siblings for both of them